Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-07-26

sons nave inherited the same talent She
learned modelling in wax from her uncle
more than century ago. She
at one time resided al
the court of Louis XVI and Marie Auto
cruette engaged in lDstructing the kings
sister in the art of moddeling-hence her
competency to model many of the actors in
the sad drama of the French court of that
and subsequent period. Her best work is
said to be a model of Voltaire, which Is
here exhibited. Of course some represen-
tations, whilst they are models of skill in
this line, are productions of the brain, like
the hundreds of fine paintings of our
Savior, but wherever historical descriptions,
portraits, or busts could be procured, the
visitor is assured, that they have been
| faithfully COPIED, and recreated in life size
form, clothed in such apparel as their posi-
tion in life, Or the custom of the times in
which they lived, prevailed. The hair
which adorns the waxen Uranium, is all
! natural hair, and so deity secured as to
give the appearance of having grown there.
No man nor woman of any great promi
nence, since the days of William the
Conqueror up to recent period, but what
has their effigy in wax exhibited in these
rooms, whilst great majority are in
standing position, some have been given a
sitting position or to carry out the effect OF
tableaux, kneeling. The kings, queens
and all of the royal blood are clothed in
costly raiment, military men in
uniform and armour, statesmen
and the clergy in the finest of robes
or in clothing b.fitting their distinctive avo
cation. The eyes, of course, are of glass
natural as life, and the feet encesed in the
shoe or boot corresponding, as with the
clothing, to the period they are designed to
represent. Entering the main exhibition
rooms on the first floor. if you turn your
eye Immediately to the left, you behold
medium sized man with florid locks and a
dark gray military cloak. He is staring
streight at you but does not bow, This is
Garrbaldi. Your very first impression is
that it Is some Individual connected with
the institution. Casting your eye to the
right, you are not liable to blunder. You
here can find William the Conqueorer
seated in graceful attitude, whilst over
him bends Matilda, his ambitious wife,
through whose aspirations he attempted the
conquest of England-and succeeded. |
William was the son of Robert the Devil |
His mother was the daughter of Norman
tanner. Thus we see Leather" has had q
heap to do in the history of this century,
as well as in our own. The man that can
trace his ancestry back to one of the band
of marauders that subdued this island in
1865 is lord or seer of the realm. Now
1t is far from my intention to saddle you
with the biography of all the defunct great
men and women one sees here. So to speak, |
l will let the panorama pass before you,
and name but few that l can call to mind.
This is Henry the VIII and his six wives. |
They are worth more than glimpse.
Here is all the Kings and Queens that have
ruled England since the day of the Norman
Their visages conform to ones
idea of their actual worth as described in |
history. Stern Oliver Cromwell, with his |
armour buckled on, occupies chair re-
moved from the sacred precincts or royalty, |
and it is II ting from an English stand
point that he should be 80. Groups of |
royalty, both native and foreign, are quite |
common. This being the year of jubilee,
Queen Vic is exhibited in two of these |
There is one expressive group wherein
John Calvin consents to the execution of
Michael Servitus and Jacques Gruet for
beresy. This group, if l recollect right,
contains also Mary Queen of Scots and
Lady Jane Grey. On a pedestal stands |
George Washington, with powdered hair
and que, velvet coat, vest and kneebreechs, !
close by him, on the floor, Charles Dickens
In ordinary clothing. On another pedestal
is Benjamin Franklin In brown apparel, |
of the style worn towards the close of the |
18th century. In modest group distin.
guished by no trappings, insignia of office,
or rank, inshe plain simple garb of the
citizen, stand facing each other, Abraham
Lincoln, Andrew Johnston, James A. Gar
field and Ulysses S. Grant 1t is
said Grants eff1gy was made |
nineteen years ago. It. was
About that period l met him for The last
time The representation here is a charica
ture. Whilst the other three are recogniz-
able, Grants bears so little resemblance to |
the old chief that they might as well sub |
stitute it for that of Guitau. which occupies
a prominent position in the chamber of hor-
rors. You may say these are only wax
figgers," what do they amount to2 Simply |
this, that this exhibition is visited by peo-
pie of every cline, nationality and walk of
life. They form impressions here, whether
erroneous or not, that are irresistible, and |
defy the man to visit this cunningly gotten
up show and go away from it unimpressed
by feeling akin to having witnessed the
actusl presence of those whom these figures
are intended to portray. The sensation on
visiting portrait gallery is entirely differ
snt. There you are filled with admiration
for the artist who has so skillfully trans
'erred the living features to canvass. Here
you never give the artist thought; you
NO Thinking of the man Whn stands before